On the natural plateau, Kaizen and the others looked up and saw the still distant stone building on the mountain peak.
The wind carrying the snow made it very difficult to see, so it was impossible to tell if anyone was there or if the people who were there had also disappeared.
Xisrith turned to the group and, while shivering from the cold, said:
"There are probably two or three hundred meters to climb yet. We can't give up now."
Jayaa and Andrew nodded and started walking towards the slightly higher part of the plateau, where there was also a natural staircase to continue climbing. However, Kaizen didn't move a finger and stood still, staring at the building.
The descendragon woman realized that Kaizen wasn't following us and turned to call out to him. "Hey, aren't you coming?" she asked with a smile, as if she were joking.
Kaizen then took his eyes off the building for the first time and replied:
"You said the distance from here to there is about three hundred meters, correct?" Kaizen said, pointing.
"Well, yes, so we should still have to climb for a few minutes," Xisrith replied.
"What if I lift us all the way up?" Kaizen said and, for a moment, he didn't seem to be serious.
Everyone's reaction was the same: silence. For a moment, everyone began to wonder whether Kaizen was joking or not, but his expression was that of someone who was talking and it wasn't as if they suspected Kaizen's ability to do this, but rather the nonchalant and natural way in which he suggested something so absurd.
"Can you do it?" Jayaa asked, just making sure. The last time he fought alongside Kaizen was a long time ago and he knows how strong he has become, having seen the video of his battle in the sky when the second attack on the Tretidian Capital took place.
Kaizen's black eyes focused on the distant stone building, as if analyzing every inch of the structure.
"I can." he said, his calm voice contrasting with the intensity of the situation. "Just stay close. I don't know how sturdy this building will be with all these cracks, and I don't want any of you to get hurt."
Jayaa, Andrew and Xisrith exchanged looks of disbelief, but Kaizen's confidence enveloped them like an invisible shield. They approached, their footsteps sinking into the snowy ground. Without another word, Kaizen raised one of his hands, his fingers stretched towards the gray sky above them. An aura of greenish energy began to form around them, a bright, ethereal halo that shimmered with contained power. The sound of the wind gradually subsided, as if nature itself was waiting to witness what would happen next.
Kaizen's expression intensified with focus, his eyes fixed on the distant building. He stretched out his hand as if he were holding something invisible, and then everyone felt the ground shake beneath their feet. In order to have a central point of support, Kaizen also lifted part of the stone floor, and when he saw this, Jayaa's eyes widened, Andrew swallowed, and even Xisrith, who had seen many extraordinary things in her life, was stunned.
Kaizen kept his concentration, his sweat freezing on his face as he controlled his breathing so as not to falter, because as if he were lifting a feather, the whole group was now in the air.
Quickly, they began to approach the building. Kaizen was guiding carefully, each movement calculated to avoid any collision with the uneven ground.
The view from up there was unparalleled. The clouds spread out like a white ocean, obscuring the land below. The mountain peaks emerged like islands in this ethereal sea. But what captured their attention was the building itself. Made of black stone, it had an aura of antiquity and power. The structure was marked by many scars of time, cracks that resembled the wrinkles of an aged face, but it still emanated an imposing presence.
Andrew ran his fingers through the air, feeling the texture of the telekinesis that enveloped them, as if they were suspended by invisible threads.
Kaizen still had his eyes fixed on the building, his mind working in tandem with his powers to maintain the group's stability. The air was filled with static electricity, a manifestation of the intense concentration he was employing.
"It's like he's dancing with the wind," murmured Jayaa, her voice filled with admiration. She looked at Kaizen with a mixture of fascination and gratitude.
Xisrith, despite her reserved nature, couldn't contain her surprise. She watched Kaizen with shining eyes, understanding the magnitude of what was happening.
Then, as they approached the building, previously indistinct details began to reveal themselves. Elaborate carvings adorned the walls, and at the end of the large main courtyard, which was covered in large and small cracks, two large wooden doors, completely decayed, silently awaited their arrival.
Finally, they landed softly on the stone floor in front of the building. Kaizen unleashed his telekinesis, and the stone above their feet crumbled into dozens of pieces.
Kaizen took a deep breath, slightly tired. Some time ago, lifting even himself was impossible for him, but it's good to know that now he can do it even with more people. In a way, that's a little comforting.
However, something else immediately captured their attention.
The hundreds of black crows that covered the sky around the building began to swoop down to land at different points in the building's long external courtyard. The birds' eyes glowed with a strange, unsettling red light. It was as if the crows themselves were hypnotized by the presence of the group, and this feeling was transmitted because they wouldn't take their eyes off them.
In addition, the earth beneath the players' feet, which was marked by deep cracks, was clear evidence that something powerful had taken place there, just as Ragnar had said.
A wisp of thick, dark smoke emerged from the cracks, snaking up into the sky in jagged towers because of the wind. It was as if the beam of light that Ragnar had mentioned, the one that the inhabitants of the region claimed to have seen, had left a trail so strong that it still persisted even many hours later.
Kaizen looked around with a worried expression. "It looks like the energy generated by that beam of light caused serious damage here," he muttered, observing the cracks in the ground that extended towards the building.
Andrew, curious and fearless as ever, approached one of the cracks and looked down. An aura of heat was rising from them, almost as if the ground itself was burning. "That's strange," he commented, "I wonder what that is."
"Look at this," said Xisrith, pointing at the smoke rising from the cracks, "it's as if the energy that hit the sky has left a residual mark. And those crows... they don't look normal."
Jayaa remained silent, frightened, observing her surroundings with sharp eyes and attentive ears. Her intuition told her that there was still something deeply disturbing about this place.
Then Kaizen led the group towards the huge wooden doors at the end of the courtyard, at the same time as they were followed by the eyes of crows.
The doors barely seemed able to support themselves and, with a careful push, they swung open with a mournful creak, revealing a dark and gloomy interior. The air inside the building was thick with a metallic, bloody smell.
A feeling of oppression washed over them. The darkness was almost tangible, as if they were plunging into an abyss of shadows. Andrew drew his sword from its scabbard and the light it produced revealed a long, narrow corridor, with moss-covered stone walls and more cracks.
The air was laden with an odor that could not be ignored, a smell of rust and dried blood that entered their nostrils.
Jayaa frowned, holding the edge of her cloak to cover her nose, and Andrew led the way with his sword drawn, ready for any threat that might arise.
Then they tried going deeper into the building, and before long the corridor widened, revealing a large room. It was a large, cavernous space, with stone pillars that stood like silent sentinels. Finally, in the center of the room, they found something. Under a large white sheet, something that looked to be just over two meters long was glowing brightly and above it was a hole in the vault of the building.
Kaizen and his group approached the object and before Kaizen pulled the sheet, he looked back at his friends for approval, and they all nodded at the same time. So Kaizen pulled and when he saw what was under the sheet, his mouth dropped open instinctively, a natural sign of his shock.
None of the others were as surprised as he was, because only to Kaizen was this thing familiar.
...
Edited by: DrHitsuji
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